Plastic container secured to card



June 21, 1960 c. E. PALMER PLASTIC CONTAINER SECURED TO CARD Filed April 7, 1959 FIG. 5

FIG. 4

' INVENTOR.

CHARLES E. PALMER ATTO NEYS United Sttes PLASTIC CONTAINER SECURED T CARD Charles E. Palmer, Turnpike Road, Somers, Conn.

Filed Apr. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 804,650

'3 Claims. (Cl. 206-80) This invention relates to display packages, and more particularly to display packages comprised of a plastic container secured to a card.

Oftentimes it is desirable to mount a small article on a card for display purposes, or for purposes of segregating the articles, or for enabling product identification data to be printed on the card. The disadvantage to such packaging practice is that the article is usually not protected from abrasion and may be marred, scratched or otherwise damaged. Some articles cannot be directly mounted on a card because of their size or configuration.

It has heretofore been proposed that a card-supported plastic container be utilized to minimize such damage and to enable mounting of small, irregularly shaped ob jects. Generally, molded plastic bubbles have been employed and mounted on the card by heat-sealing to a heat-sealing plastic coating on the card, or gluing thereto, or inserting flanged edges between plies of the card. However, such prior packages have generally been expensive, difficult to assemble and disassemble, or lacking in structural strength.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved card-supported plastic container.

It is a specific object to provide an inexpensive readily assembled card-supported plastic container which provides substantial protection for the article.

Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed specification and attached drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front plan view of an assembled plastic container and card in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear plan of the assembly in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the assembly;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank for forming the plastic container; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a card blank for supporting the plastic container.

Referring to the drawings in detail, an exemplary structure is therein illustrated as generally comprised of a support-ing card 2, which may be of fiber, pasteboard or other suitable semi-rigid or rigid material, and the plastic container 4.

The blank for the plastic container 4 is comprised of a substantially rectilinear sheet with a pair of side extensions adjacent one end, which is folded to provide, serially, base panel 6 with end flaps 12, display panel 8, and locking panel 10. When assembled, the display panel 8 assumes an arcuate cross section, preferably semi-circular, and the locking and base panels extend laterally of the display panel 8 and substantially parallel to the card 2; the assembled plastic container may thus be described as having the configuration of a cylindrical segment. The end flaps 12 extend substantially vertically from the base panel 6 through the card 2, and the ends are subsequently bent into the body of the container to lock in the displayed article. The end of the blank providing the locking panel preferably has the edges chamfered or incised, as illustrated.

ice

The locking panel 10 and base panel 6 are suitably incised as at 14, 16 to provide for mechanical interlocking engagement of the two panels in assembly, although other engaging methods may also be employed, such as adhesives or heat-sealing. The end flaps 12 are of greater length than the height of the are formed. by the display panel 8, and preferably are provided with arcuate configuration at their free ends cooperating with the radius of the arcuate display panel.

The card 2 is provided with a pair of spaced, parallel slots or apertures 18 of sufficient length for passage of the body of the blank therethrough, and a second pair of spaced, parallel slots 20 of suflicient length for passage of the end liaps therethrough, the two pairs of apertures being spaced from each other and lying in a rectilinear configuration. It is understood, however, that a single card may be provided with a plurality of spaced sets of apertures for mounting a plurality of plastic containers.

In assembly, the locking panel 10 and display panel 8 are threaded out one of the slots 18 and in the other slot, the end flaps 12 are threaded through the slots 20, and then the locking panel 10 is engaged with the base panel 6 by the interlocks 14, 16.

After insertion of the article to be displayed, the end flaps 12 are bent inwardly into the arcuate or semi-cylindrical display portion where, because of their length and resiliency, they bear upon the top of the arcuate display panel and lock in the displayed article.

To remove the displayed article, one of the flaps 18 may be pushed inwardly to force the displayed article out the other side, or a flap may be pulled out, or the entire container may be disassembled by disengaging the interlock.

The transparent plastic sheet for the blank should be of a thickness to provide both rigidity commensurate with resiliency, which will depend upon the plastic selected. Any plastic which may be folded, such as polystyrene, cellulose esters and ethers, or polyvinyls, may be employed. However, oriented polystyrene of about 0.005 to 0.015 inch in thickness is preferred because of its high strength and resiliency, and the method for folding the polystyrene is preferably the room-temperature operation disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 741,328, filed June 11, 1958.

Although but one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A display assembly comprising a card and a plastic container carried thereby, said card having two pairs of parallel slots in spaced, rectilinear disposition, said container having a display panel of arcuate cross section disposed substantially on one side of said card with end portions extending through a pair of said slots, a pair of laterally disposed panels integral with opposite ends of said display panel and engaged on the other side of said card, and a pair of end flaps on the sides of one of said laterally disposed panels extending through the other pair of said slots and bearing upon the top of said arcuate display panel.

2. A display assembly comprising a card having two pairs of spaced, parallel slots in rectilinear disposition and a plastic, semi-cylindrical container carried thereby, said container being comprised of a display panel of semicircular cross section, a base panel and a locking panel integral with and extending laterally of opposite ends of said display panel and a pair of end flaps extending from the sides of said base panel of longer length than the radius of said semi-circular cross section, said display panel and end flaps extending through the said slots and 3 being disposed substantially on one side of said card, and the said locking panel and base panel being engaged on the other side of said card.

3. A display assembly comprising a card having two pairsof spaced, parallel slots in rectilinear dispositionslots,-a laterally extending base panel and a laterally ex- 10 tending locking panel integral with and disposed on opposite ends of said display panel, and a pair of end flaps extending substantially vertically from the sides of said base panel through the otherlpair of said slots and being of a length greater than the height of said arcuate cross section so as to bear upon the top thereof during operative assembly, and interlocking means on said locking panel and base panel. v

No references cited. 

